The familiar twang of the eerie theme song, the scepticism in Scully’s voice and the eagerness with which Mulder clings on to any and all conspiracy theories.

For diehard fans, any return to The X-Files world was going to be fraught with the unknown, the most pressing question of which was this: Will it be any good?

Verdict: It was OK.

It was great in that the nostalgia came flooding back and you could immerse yourself in this rich world with old friends and enemies, lapping up every detail Chris Carter put on screen. For that alone, you could forgive the episode its many flaws.

The problem was that it became confused by cramming in too much mythology gymnastics, potentially undoing everything we were told for 202 previous episodes. And the paranoia was a little high on the Richter scale, even for The X-Files.

But don’t abandon hope. The second episode is remarkably better.

“Founder’s Mutation” is the revival’s first monster-of-the-week chapter, a format that delivered some of the show’s best episodes in the past.

Back in Skinner’s office. It really is like old times.Source:Supplied

David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson (who was a bit awkward in the first episode) are clearly more comfortable in the second instalment and the electrifying chemistry that made the series so successful in the 90s was back.

The tone was also bang on — it was creepy, it was tense, with a smattering of wry humour, and it felt like any of the better episodes from The X-Files’ earlier seasons.

Even the first few minutes, in the cold open before the credits, the set-up for the episode was sans our favourite agents and just established the story for the next 42 minutes. Just like old times.

It wasn’t perfect. There were one too many “look, it’s 2016” references, an obvious and clumsy product placement for Ford and a tad strong on the schmaltz. But it will satisfy fans old and new — it was back on form.

Reports out of the US say the third episode, “Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster”, surpasses the second — another tick in the yes column when we ask ourselves at the end of the six-week run: Was it all worth it?